FOUNDATION 2022

      

At our first Prep Information Session on Wednesday evening, our dynamic prep team showcased their teaching and learning, wellbeing and school readiness programs.

It was wonderful to meet our prospective families and look forward to further meetings throughout the year.

Thank you to all our current families that have a sibling expected to commence school in 2022 for finalising your child's enrolment. Enrolment forms are available on line or can be picked up from the office.

ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION

Thank you to our community for joining us last Friday afternoon for our Anzac Day Commemoration. A most respectful service, led by our student leaders. Thank you Mr. Pepi for supporting our assembly through your reflections with classes and at our assembly.

HOODIE UP FOR AUTISM! 
Today is World Autism Awareness Day.

It was fantastic today to see students and staff wearing their hoodies to show support for people with autism.

Why hoodies? Some autistic people experience sensory sensitivities and can become overloaded by stimuli in their environment; wearing their hoodie up means they can block out bright lights and busy environments which helps calm them.

This very important day as we develop as a school community a greater understanding of how we can support and embrace autistic people and celebrate the diversity autism brings to our world. Together, we can shape a better future for autism!

See- https://www.amaze.org.au/get-involved/hoodie-up/ for more information

Thank you to our students who shared their reflections on our video.

SHHHHH DON’T READ THIS MUMS AND SPECIAL FRIENDS!! SAVE THE DATE!!

Our Mother’s and Special Friends Day breakfast is all organised for next Friday 7^th May. This much loved event will be held under the gazebo (or Birralee if weather wet) from 7.15am onwards.

Costs are $5.00 a family payble on the QKR app. Tasty bacon and egg burgers, fruit and pastries will be available.

A coffee cart will be available for those who enjoy a morning coffee or cuppa. You are welcome to bring your reusable cup. Card payments are preferred.

We also will be offering a range of beautiful hand crafted gifts for the cost of $2.00. Students will be able to purchase these gifts throughout the day in the multipurpose room.

2021 STUDENT ATTITUDES TO SCHOOL SURVEY

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing, and quality instruction, and we will be conducting a Department of Education and Training survey in Years 4, 5 and 6 to find out more about what your child thinks and how they feel about school.

The Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist our school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, bullying and life in general. 

Students from Years 4, 5 and 6 will participate in the survey. Your child will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool.  It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any time. 

Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only. All responses to the survey are kept anonymous in the response file. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.

This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted here at school sometime between now and Friday 11th June. The survey takes around 20-45 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time.

The survey results will be reported back to the school in an aggregate form. All survey data that is made available in reports about cohorts of students only so that no individual student can be identified. Data suppression rules are used for schools with low student numbers per year level. 

If you would like more information, please speak to your child’s teacher or visit: https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/data-collection-surveys/guidance/attitudes-school-survey

YEAR 3 AND 5 NAPLAN

Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN assessments will be held May 11th, 12th and 13^th of May.

NAPLAN is a national assessment strategy for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be assessed in Language Conventions (Grammar and Spelling), Writing, Reading and Numeracy.

If you require additional information, please contact your child’s teacher.

VICTORIAN PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE IS BACK !   

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and Chelsea PS is excited to be participating.

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 17 September 2021. Last year was a record year and we plan to get many more students completing the challenge. Can we get to 100%?

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and can choose to have their name included on the online Honour Roll.

Students will be sent a unique log in from their teachers.

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

Pop down to Chelsea Library, they have a great range of fabulous books to borrow!

BEFORE SCHOOL AND AFTER SCHOOL SUPERVISION-STUDENT SAFETY 

Prior to 8.45am our playground is not supervised.  Students also need to be collected by 3.45pm each day. We understand that for many parents these times can be difficult and we encourage you to make use of our excellent Before and After School Care service if required. They are contactable on 9581 4867.

LOST PROPERTY

Please ensure that all children's belongings are clearly labelled with their name (not just initials) and grade. Sometimes items are not returned to their rightful owner because they are not labelled correctly or clearly. If you find named belongings in your child's possession, could you please return them to the school office. Our main lost property is stored in the plastic container in the sick bay opposite the front office. 

HEADLICE REMINDERS

• Routinely check for lice or eggs in your children’s hair.
• If found do not send your child to school with untreated head lice.
• Check all family members and treat them asap.
• Notify the school asap.
• Use a head lice lotion or shampoo, carefully following the instructions.
• Follow up treatment as recommend, usually a week, as eggs take six to seven days to hatch.
• Non chemical option is to use a cheap conditioner and comb with a fine lice comb every two days until no live lice have been found in 10 days.
• Keep hair tied up as head to head contact is how they are transmitted.
• Head lice may develop resistance to some chemicals so change it up.
• As head lice live for a short time off the head, experts say washing the pillowslip, rather than all bedding is recommended.
• Teach children about how lice are spread. Beware of selfies, sleepovers and sharing hats and combs.

STUDENT ABSENCES

If your child is going to be absent from school for any reason (appointments, sickness, holidays) you must alert the office as soon as possible. It is a legal requirement that all absences are reported. There are a number of ways you can notify the school if your child is going to be absent:

• Call the office directly on (03) 9773 2055 and select the option to report an absence,
• Use the ‘Add Attendance Note/Approval’ on your child’s profile on COMPASS,
• If you are intending on removing your child from school during term time for a holiday you must submit a written request to the principal/assistant principal detailing your intended dates of absence prior to the absence taking place.
• If your child is going on holiday, please send a letter to the school before you depart.
• If your child is late to school, they need to come to the front office for a late pass.
• If your child is picked up early from school, you need to come to the front office to sign them out.
• If you need any further information regarding attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the office.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications close on 23rd June 2021

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors. Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works while sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership.  All are a part of a healthy curriculum.
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
 
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.

Please read the information and application form on the Compass notification. You will need to supply a copy of your concession card to the office with your completed application form, either in person or email the school at chelsea.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

If you have any questions, please contact Ledam in the office.

Welcome to Term 2! The Prep classes have officially started having parent helpers in the classroom to support students during our morning literacy session. We have already had an abundance of volunteers which is very exciting! An official welcome to our new student, Zahraa in FGallo and our student teacher Miss Taylor who will also be in FGallo for the next 2 weeks. The Prep teachers are super pumped to be presenting their Prep Readiness presentation this Wednesday, with an expectation of 40 parents already!

Love, The Prep Teachers

Miss Gallo, Miss Ippolio and Mr Pepi

We have had a very busy first week back in Year 1 and 2. We have learnt about the meaning of ANZAC Day and commemorated those who have served Australia throughout the wars. Our reading and writing focus was the picture storybook ANZAC Biscuits which gave our students a better understanding of what it was like for a child their age during WW1.

We also commenced our Inquiry unit around the topic of History. Year 1 have been looking at past, present and future by exploring days, months and seasons of the year and the vocabulary connected with history. Year 2s have used artefacts (objects and buildings) to learn about the past. We walked around our school (conveniently built in 1912!) and found many interesting artefacts. We are all really looking forward to our excursion to McCrae Homestead on Mon 10^th and Tues 11^th May. If you have not already done so please send your permission form back to your child’s teacher.

In maths Year 1 are looking at skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s on number lines, looking for patterns and using arrays. Year 2 are exploring the vocabulary of multiplication and reviewing our understanding of how we can use arrays to solve multiplication problems.

We also have swimming lessons coming up in week 6 and 7 – 24^th May – 4^th June. Stay tuned for notices regarding this coming home soon.

Chris Hulse, Wendy Stansfield and Maddie Culshaw

Middle Years have had a very positive start to Term 2 and all students are working well.  In these first four weeks, we are including lots of practice for the upcoming NAPLAN tests and since our Year 4s missed last year’s testing, we are acquainting them with the tests as well.  We are doing our best to demystify the ordeal for the Yr 3s and arm them with the confidence they need to do their best.  Please advise your child’s teacher if you think they are particularly anxious about NAPLAN.  We do not want any student to be overwhelmed by the test and if aware of any concerns, we can address them immediately.

I hope you all got to see the Age’s online video of our spelling lesson – it is a really good snapshot into what we do in class and no amount of explanation can give you as good an insight as this clip.  Here’s the link again, in case you haven’t caught it  - https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/learning-to-read-using-phonics-20210423-p57lxl.htmlfbclid=IwAR2z5Qm--JD795sjmLiI3MKNeT4a6dlSmG51ofsdatdEc87ZTaczot-sug

The first week of term 2 was full of exciting activities. One of the first things we did was a first aid lesson. Kerry from St Johns Ambulance Australia came to school and taught us basic first aid skills like DRS ABCD (stands for Danger Response Send Airway Breathing CPR Defibrillation.) We also learnt CPR on practice dummies and at the end we got a bookmark and a magnet about the things we learnt.

Another thing we have done this week was SEDA soccer. SEDA students came in to teach us about different soccer skills. Later we got to try out these skills in fun drills. It was very enjoyable no matter what skill level you were on. They are going to come back for three more sessions across 3 weeks.

We also starting practicing for the What Matters competition which is a competition where every child in Australia can enter. You have to write a persuasive piece about something that matters to you. This week we have been studying persuasive techniques and brainstorming ideas.

This week has been full of amazing things and there’s still more of the term to go so who knows what others great things we will do.

By Daniel Vincze 6L



     

Congratulations to our Junior School winners Ellis (2H), Mila (1C) and Olivia (1C) who submitted these amazing posters for our ‘We Belong Day’ poster competition. The task was to create a poster that we could put around the school to tell our school community that bullying is not ok.

Our prompt on Thursday 1 April 2021 was linked to Easter. Students had to include the following words in their writing: holidays, Easter, eggs, bunny and bonnet. Congratulations to these creative entries who are our winners for this week:

Easter Parade

This Easter Day so high and sunny,

Waiting for this Easter bunny.

Walking on my aching legs,

Searching for these Easter eggs.

Such a perfect time to play,

What a happy holiday!

Searching for these eggs I’m on it,

Jogging with my bunny bonnet.

Sprinting to this Easter run,

Hoping I have lots of fun.

Getting ready to win this race,

I head to start and take my place,

“GO!” yells the man and they all start running,

I freeze for a moment then my legs start gunning.

But I trip and fall mid parade,

My friends see me down and come to my aid.

So friendship saves the day!

Hunter – 5W

Easter Bonnet Day

Hi! My name is Kshama. I would like to tell you about my Easter Bonnet Day. First on Wednesday we made out Easter bonnet with our grade 1 buddies, but yesterday there was an Easter bunny in our classroom. Guess who it was? It was Hunter! Hunter was wearing an Easter bunny headband, and taking carrots from the bowl, and eating them, so now let’s continue about the Easter bonnet.  I got 2 buddies, and their hats were so cool. They had chicks and eggs. I loved their hat. I thought they were going to win. My favourite part of Easter is the holidays.

By Kshama – 5W

On Friday 23 April the prompt was this story starter, with a great image: 

Lawrence was injured, afraid, lost and completely alone. He had been thrown viciously from the aircraft after the flock of birds had attacked the propellers. As he laid there, listening to his racing heart, he wondered what would happen to him. How would he make it out alive?

Some things to think about were:

What do you think he should try to do next? Who might be able to help in this situation? What do you think you would do if you were in a similar situation? Why do you think he is afraid? What might he be afraid of?

Congratulations to these winners:

He plummeted from the sky. He activated the parachute at the last second to defy death. The plane exploded like a nuclear bomb, there were Lego® bricks everywhere, one small 2 by 1 brick ripped the parachute fabric. He was falling very fast, luckily a cockroach softened his fall, he cheated death like he had seen the instruction page “how to cheat death”. He was confused. How didn’t he meet the Grim Reaper and visit the Lego® cemetery. He was piggyback riding a cockroach (toys are alive). The birds came to have a very unfriendly visit. To be continued...

By Zayden – 5W

The Crash

He kept on thinking and something came to his mind. The idea was that he could maybe look for help. He walked over the small hill and he looked and there was nothing there, besides a small pond. So, he walked there. When he got there, he saw a small tent. After he took a drink from his water bottle he asked if anybody was there, but it was abandoned. He looked around and saw a rescue helicopter and shouted “HERE DOWN HERE HELP!”. The helicopter flew to the crash site, so Lawrence sprinted to the crash site and they flew him to safety.

By Richard – 5W

BOOM!! “Ahhhhh!!” screamed Lawrence. The plane hurtled to the ground and smashed into smithereens. A red liquid leaked out of the plane and trickled down. “OWWW!!!” shrieked Lawrence in pain. He fractured his left arm and blood was spilling out. Lawrence bandaged up his arm and clambered out of the plane wreck. “Help, please someone!” Nobody responded. He sat down on the green grass and sulked, quietly to himself. “Crying ain’t gonna help ya mate.” said a gruff voice. “Who on earth are you!” cried Lawrence. “Edward Dogspit,” he said. “And who might you be mister?” “Lawrence, sir. Lawrence Tacohead.” “Well Lawrence. How do you think we should get out of here?” “I honestly don’t know…"

By Patti & Kshama– 5W

The speedy wind blew the helicopter closer and closer to the skyscraper. Pilot Lawrence saw the birds aiming for his chopper and screamed in fear as the engine started weeping and the aircraft lost control. He grabbed the sandwich off the plate that his mother prepared him. The dewy grass was only a few hundred meters away. “It’s been a good life,” he whispered to himself over and over again. “Smaaackk,” the plane went down and exploded on impact. “Maaaaryy” Henry ran in crying to his mother whilst Pilot Lawrence lay in the sun frowning in his Lego mess.

By Oscar and Will – 6E

RESCUE! TRICK, TRICK, TRICK! The sound of the whirling steel propeller blades echoed throughout the aircraft. Then out of the mist came several birds that lunged themselves into the propeller. In a flash of fury, the helicopter came crashing towards the ground. Lawrence opened his eyes slowly and looked all around and saw his aircraft in pieces. He shifted his vision towards his paining foot and saw a stick of rebar in his leg. He reached his hand and removed the rebar out of his leg. He attempted to walk, but after a couple of steps he collapsed. In his last waking moments, he saw a figure dragging him away…

By Liam and Hunter - 5W